Repeating apparatus for phonographs



April 26, 1932. J. w. ASHWORTH REPEATING APPARATUS FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed April 8, 1929 jjzgi I VVENTOR. John W 4 5hn 0/"f/7 class lever.

Patented Apr. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT JOHN W. AsHwon'rH, on NEW YORK, N. ASSIGNOR TO ASHWOBTI-I Anvnn'rIsIno COMPANY, INCORPORATED, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK REPEATINGTAPPARATUS FOR rrronoennrns Application filed April 8,

This invention relates to repeating apparatus adapted to be associated with phonograph instruments whereby the playing or reproduction of a record may be repeated over and over again without appreciable intervening periods of cessation andfor any number of times, the construction being such as to repeat the reproduction until the mechanism is manually stopped.

Devices have heretofore been suggested to effect the repetition of the reproduction of records on phonographs. Such prior de vices have, however, generally been in the form of attachments or accessories adapted to be mounted and clamped in place on the top of the phonograph cabinet directly adj acent the turntable andfor various reasons well known to the art, have not proven satisfactory.

The present invention, in contradistinction, is preferably built into the phonograph construction to form a permanent part thereof and to be always ready and able to carry out its inherent functions in a thoroughly a efficient and positive manner.

The invention is susceptible to employment with phonographs employing either any well known type of sound reproducer or sound boX, as well as those types of magnetic pick up now in vogue for translating the vibratory operations of the stylus under the impulse of the sound groove of a record into electrical-vibrations which are impressed upon radio apparatus and amplitied and reproduced thereby.

Speaking generally, the invention consists in an arm or lever mounted for pivotal move ment so as to function preferably as a first that the work arm thereof is adapted for cooperation with the tone arm or equivalent part of the phonograph. While the power arm of such lever is shaped to carry a cam follower associated with the cam which acts to control the operations of said lever in order that such lever may act upon the tone arm to bring about movement of the latter from the position wherein the stylus completes the travel of the sound groove of the The lever is so configuratedi 1929. Serial No. 353,611.

record back to a new start at'the beginning of such sound groove.

I find it highly practical to so form the work arm of the lever that it will project below and underlie the tone arm ina plane substantially parallel to the plane ofthe face of the record, so that asthe'tone arm swings duringthe travel of the stylus inthe' sound groove of the record, said tone :arm will move substantially free from contact with the work arm of the lever. As the stylus approaches the end of the sound groove, however, the cam which is operated in accordance with this invention by one of the operating parts of the phonograph, will' act upon the cam follower to permit pivotal movement of the lever thereby causing the work arm of the latter to swing sharply upward and partake of a pronounced inclined position. During the upward movement of such power arm, the tone arm will be engaged and lifted and will thereupon gravitate down the inclined power arm of the lever until it engages a stop regulatably in the manner, hereinafter more fully ex? plained, of driving the repeating apparatus and the turntable of the phonographfwith which it isassoci ated. v 2

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will beapparent from thehere inafter detailed description and claims, when read in conjunction with the, accompanying drawings. p

The accompanying drawings'illustrate one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be underwill hereinafter be more stood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a phonograph instrument embodying the present invention. Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure ,1,

Figure 3 is a side .view of a novel form of stylus also constituting a part of this invention.

Figure 4' isa section on the'line ll of Figure3.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 designates acasing of a phonograph which may,

in practice, be made in any desired form of cabinet and constructed of any suitable material, the particular form of cabinet being immaterial to this invention. 2 designates the turntable of the phonograph and on which turntable a record 3 is adapted to be supported in the usual manner.

The turntable is fixed to a spindle 4 journalled for rotation on a vertical axis in any suitable manner and to the lower end of the spindle is secured a pulley 5 having a belt connection 6. with a pulley 7 fixed to the armature shaft of a motor 8..It will of course be understood that, instead of the electric motor 8 as-shown in the drawings, a suitable spring motor. such as heretofore used in phonographs may be employed. An appropriate ballgovernor 9 is associated with the motor 8 in order to control and regulate the speed. at which the turntable isrotated,

I wish'to call attention at this point to the novel form. of belt drive which I have dis closed. The driving of the turntable through a belt connection as shown gives an unusually flexible drive wherein there is a notable absence of noise and nevertheless'the turntable is rotated with a smoothness of motion in marked contradistinction tothe gear or Worm drives heretofore generally employed.

7 The tone arm 10 is supported onthe cabinet. in any suitable manner for swinging movement in a direction substantially radi ally of the record and also for lifting piv otal movement with respect to the record and purpose of which is to permit of undulatory or lateral deviations in the sound groove to be translated into corresponding changes in electrical current for reproduction through a radio instrument in the well known mi 11- ner. Thus, the present invention may be employed in phonographs intended to be used in the conventional manner or with such phonographs when associated with a rad o a compact and convenient manner the greater portion of the mechanism incident I either event, the purpose of such connection 7 r is to drive the shaft 15, from the spindle 4 in order to obtain a'perfectly timed and synwith respect to the record. The shaft '15 car-v ries a gear 21 meshing with the gear 22 on the shaft 17 while the shaft 16 carries a gear 23 meshing with a gear 24: on the shaft 18. The alined shafts 15' and 16 are adapted to be connected .by a slidingclutch sleeve 25 and the shafts 17 and 18 are adapted to be con-v nected by a similar sliding-clutchsleeve 26; These two clutch sleeves are s-plinedto the shafts 15 and 17 and are adapted to engage with adjacent polygonal'ends of the-shafts 16 and 18; The two sleeves are connected together bymeans of a clutch lever 27 secured 3 speed of theshaft 16 will be increased to render the device appropriate for use with the small size standard record. The apparatus is thus adapted tocooperate with both stand- {ard sizes'of record and may be regulated for thispurpose by merely turning. the knob 29 in an appropriate direction.

To the shaft 16 is secured a bevel gear 30 which meshes with the bevel gear 81 secured to a shaft 32 which alsocar'ries a cam 33; The upper face of this camis fiat for the greater portion of its circumference, but at one pointv in its circumference it is cut away to provide'a low phase designated 34 in Fig. '2. Vith the cam surfaceis adapted to cooperate. a follower 35 mounted on the power arm 36 of a lever fulcrumed at 37 and having a power arm 38. A. spring 39 serves to hold the follower in contact withthe cam. ;The lever is so shaped'that its work arm extends substantially radially of the record in a position chronously operable rotation of the shaft 15 to overlie. the record and underlie the tone arm 10. Under normal conditions, the leverv occupies the full line position'of Figure 2, where itis free from both the record and the.

tone arm. In this position, the follower is riding on the flat face of the cam and the stylus is traversing the sound groove of the record. The parts are so geared together that at the time the stylus finishes its travel at the inner end of the sound groove, the cam 83 will have rotated to a position wherein the follower will drop to the low phase 3a of the cam under the impulse of the spring 39. This will cause the lever to be tilted into the dotted line position whereby the work arm;

38 will engage with the tone arm andalift the stylus free from the record.

At the same time, the workarm 38 will be in a marked inclined position and as a' result gravity will act upon the tone arm to cause it to slide down the incline until it-engages order to return the lever to the full line position shown in Fig. 2, and during this operation, the stylus will be quietly and slowly lowered to present the stylus without shock or jar at the beginning of the sound groove. It will be noted in this regard that the stop 40 will be regulated manually in accordance with the size of the record to be played, so that when the tone arm is lowered, the stylus will be presented at the beginning of the sound groove.

The structure which I have described .is unusually simple from a mechanical standpoint, is absolutely unfailing in its operation, and itsuse in practice has demonstrated its unquestionable efliciency in the performance of its intended functions. I find it desirable to associate with the apparatus a tone arm support designated generally by the reference character 45. This support is preferably made in the form of'a resilient wire suitably anchored to the tone arm mounting fixture 46 and extending so as to underlie the tone arm and bent as inclicated at 4:7 to grip the outer end of the tone arm directly adjacent the sound box. This wire is so tensioned that when the stylus is traversing the record an appreciable portion of the weight of the tone arm will be carried by the support 45, so as to take undue weight of the tone arm and sound box ofi the stylus. However, when the tone arm is lifted at the end of the sound groove, so as to permit it to slide down the inclined work arm of the lever, the spring support will be flexed in an upward direction and will assist gravity in causing the tone arm to expeditiously slide down the work arm to the point of beginning of the sound groove. i

Any suitable form of stylus may be employed, but in Figures 3 and 4, I have illus-' trated a novel stylus construction which may be used with any form of record and is practically indestructible.

between the legs thereof a knife edge disk 42 heldzfirmlyv in position by means of a set screw 43 which clamps the legs together. It

is notinte'nded that the disk should rotate,-

although it may without departing from .this invention. If clamped ti ghtly in place,

it may be manually rotated from time to time to compensate for wear at anyyparticu lar point. The shank 44: is adapted to be re,- ceived into the conventional stylus holder and held in placetherein in any suitable manner. l

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical form, but the invention is to be understood als fully commensurate with its appended c aims.

Having thus fully described the invention, I

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I 1. In a phonograph, a driven spindle, a turntable mounted on the spindle, atone arm, and a sound box carrying a stylus and supported on the tone arm, in combination with a lever havingwork and power arms and fulcrumed for pivotal movement with the work arm underlying the tone arm and the power arm having a cam follower, a cam cooperating with said follower, positive driving connections between the cam andthe spindle to continuously drive the former I from the latter, said cam being-shaped to maintain the work armofthe lever free from engagement with the tone arm while the stylus is traversing the sound groove of the record and to move said work arm of the lever into inclinedposition when the stylus completes its travel of the sound groove whereby the stylus is lifted from the record andthe tone arm caused to slide down the work arm, and means for stopping the tone arm with the stylus in juxtaposition with the beginning of the sound groove.

2. In a phonograph, a driven spindle, a turntable mounted on the spindle and operable thereby, a tone arm, and a sound box carrying a stylus supported on the tone arm and adapted for cooperation with the record sound groove 'of the record and to move said work arm of the lever into inclined position when the stylus completes its travel of the The stylus shown. comprises a holder &1 bifurcated to receive sound roove for the purpose of lifting the stylus Tom the record to permit the tone arm to slide down the work arm, and means for stopping the tone arm with the stylus in juX-- taposition with the beginning of the sound groove, said stop means comprismgan adjustable stop adapted to be regulated to positions appropriate'to records of different sizes. 7 j

3. In a phonograph a drivenspindle, a

turntable mounted on the spindle, atone arm,

and a sound box carrying a stylus and supported on the tone arm, in combination with a lever havlng workand'power arms and fulcrumed for pivotalmovement with the pletes its travel of the sound groove, whereby the stylus is lifted from the record and the tone arm caused toslide down the Work arm, and means for stopping the tone arm with the stylus in juxtaposition with the beginning of the sound groove, said stop means comprising an adjustable stop adapted to be regulated to positions appropriate to records. of different sizes, the connections betweenthe spindle and the cam including change speed transmission mechanism for timing the operations of the lever for records of different sizes.

4. In a phonograph, a driven spindle, a turntable mounted on the spindle, a tone arm,

I and a sound box carrying a stylus and supported on the tone arm, in combination with record repeating means embodying a driving -shaft positively connected to and constantly driven by the spindle of the turntable, a cam,

a driven shaft operatively connected to the cam, alined counter shafts geared to the respective shafts, clutch elements for connectl ing the driving and driven shafts directly or through the counter shafts depending upon the positions of the clutch elements, a lever of the'first class having power and work arms, the power a-rm of which cooperates with the'cam and the work arm of which is positioned to underlie the tone arm, said cam being shaped to normally maintain the work arm of the lever free from engagement with the tone arm and said cam being shaped to cause movement of the lever into a position wherein its work arm will be inclined and will lift the tone arin to disengage the stylus from the record at the end of the sound groove whereby the tone arm is caused to gravitate into a position wherein the stylus will be juxtaposed with'the beginning of the sound groove, and an adjustable stop carried by the work arm of the lever to control the position at which the stylus is placed at the end of the sliding movement of the tone arm on thework arm of the lever.

U 5.; In a phonograph, a driven spindle, a turntable mounted on the spindle and operable thereby a tone arm, and a sound box carrying a stylus supported on the tone arm and adapted for cooperation with the record supported on-the turntable, in combination withrecord repeating means embodying a driving shaft positively connected to and driven by the spindle of the turntable, a cam, a driven shaft operatively connected to the cam, alined counter shafts geared to the respective cams, clutch elements for connecting the driving and driven shafts directly or throughthe counter shaft-s depending upon the positions of the clutch element-s,

a lever of the first class having power and work arms, the power arm of wh1ch 1s adapted to cooperate with the cam and the work will be juxtaposed with the beginning of the so? I sound groove, and an adjustable stop carried 7 by the work arm of the lever to control the position at which the stylus is placedat the end of the sliding movement of the tone arm on the work arm of the lever, and a resilient tone arm supporting element having a neutral position between the raised and lowered positions of the tone arm, said supporting element being connected to the tone arm to partially support the weight of the tone arm when the stylusis engaged with the sound groove and to assist gravity in causing the tone arm to slide down'the work arm of the lever when the tone arm is elevated by said lever. 7

6. In a phonograph, a driven spindle, a

turntable mounted on the spindle and operable thereby, a tone arm, and a soundbo-x' carrying a stylus supported on the tone arm and adapted for'cooperation with the record supported on the turntable, in combination with record repeating means embodying a driving shaft positively connected to and,

driven by the spindle of the turntable, a cam, a driven shaft operatively connected to the cam, alined counter shafts geared to the re: spective cams, clutch elements for connect ing the driving and drivenshafts directly or through the counter shafts depending upon the positions of the clutch elements, a. lever of the first class having power and work arms, the power arm of which is adapted to cooperate with the cam and the work arm of which is adapted to underlie the tone arm, said cam being shaped to normally maintain the work arm of the lever free from engagement with the tone arm and said cam being shaped to cause movement of the lever into a position wherein its work arm will be inclined and will lift the tone arm to disengage the stylus from the record at the end of the sound groove and permit the tone arm to gravitate into a position wherein the stylus will be juxtaposed with the beginning of the sound groove, an adjustable stop carried by the work arm of the lever to control the position at which the stylus is placed at the end of the sliding movement of the tone arm on the work arm of the lever, a motor, and belt and pulley plonnections between the motor and the spinle.

7 In a phonograph, a driven spindle, a turntable mounted on the spindle and operable thereby, a tone arm, and a sound box carrying a stylus supported on the tone arm and adapted for cooperation with the record supported on the turntable, in combination with record repeating means embodying a driving shaft positively connected to and driven by the spindle of the turntable, a cam, a driven shaft operatively connected to the cam, alined counter shafts geared to the respective cams, clutch elements for connecting the driving and driven shafts directly or through the counter shafts depending upon the positions of the clutch elements, a lever of the first class having power and work arms, the power arm of which is adapted to cooperate with the cam and the work arm of which is adapted to underlie the tone arm, said cam being shaped to normally maintain the work arm of the lever free from engagement with the tone arm and said cam being shaped to cause movement of the lever into a position wherein its work arm will be inclined and will lift the tone arm to disengage the stylus from the record at the end of the sound groove and permit the tone arm to gravitate into a position wherein the stylus will be juxtaposed with the begining of the sound groove, an adjustable'stop carried by the work arm of the lever to control the position at which the stylus is placed at the end of the sliding movement of the tone arm on the work arm of the lever, a motor, belt and pulley connections between the motor and the spindle, said connections comprising a relatively large pulley on the spindle, and a relatively small pulley on the motor with a belt encircling both pulleys.

In testimony whereof I have signed the foregoing specification. 7

JOHN W. ASHWORTH. 

